S.N. Corporation Bangladesh ship recycling yard achieves HKC compliance

With a second Bangladeshi ship recycling yard now certified as compliant with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) guidelines for the Hong Kong Convention (HKC), collaboration under GMS’s Sustainable Ship & Offshore Recycling Program (SSORP) continues to enable significant steps towards greener ship recycling practices in South Asia.

Chattogram, Bangladesh, 10 March 2023: The certification of M/S. S.N. Corporation’s Unit-02 ship recycling yard at Shitalpur, Sitakunda is a significant step for Bangladeshi green ship recycling, as this heralds the second shipyard in the country to become compliant with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Guidelines for Safe and Environmentally Sound Ship Recycling. The rigorous certification process was undertaken by Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, establishing that S.N. Corporation was capable of the intensive procedural and performance standards required under the Hong Kong Convention (HKC).

This complex undertaking was assisted by GMS, the world’s largest buyer of ships and offshore vessels, under their award-winning Sustainable Ship & Offshore Recycling Program (SSORP). Under this Program, employees from S.N. Corporation were offered technical support and guidance throughout the certification process in order to ensure a supported end-to-end solution for sustainable ship recycling.

Dr. Anand Hiremath, Chief Sustainability Officer at GMS, said, “We are extremely proud to have played a part in the success of S.N. Corporation’s HKC certification. As the global maritime industry looks to implement cleaner, decarbonized shipping operations throughout the supply chain, the ship recycling industry in South Asia is taking significant proactive steps to support this transition to more sustainable practices and enable the responsible recovery of reusable materials. We congratulate S.N. Corporation on this achievement, and welcome further opportunities to collaborate with global ship recycling yards seeking to facilitate sustainability in the coming years.”

The IMO Guidelines offer a technical standard to assist in the early implementation of the HKC, with advice on how yards can achieve compliance such that ship recycling does not pose any unnecessary risks to human health/safety and the environment. Although the convention is yet to be ratified, responsible ship recycling yard operators have begun undertaking voluntary certification so as to ensure rigorous safety standards and support ongoing calls for Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting across maritime.